Transplanting Grass

On Saturday (whether permitting) I'm wanting to transplant some lush green grass from one area of the garden to the other.

The area its going too has been heavily compacted on account of it was under a ton of sand for several months while the ManShed was constructed and looks very sorry for itself. Its also quite sandy as the bag may have leaked (or I may have been not terribly coordinated with my shovel).

We don't need to worry about a perfectly flat lawn - it would look out of place with the rest of the lawn!!

What prep work do I need to do on this area before I dig up the replacement patch?

About the replacement - its actually on a mound of top soil that was moved years ago when the previous occupants had the patio laid so is very well established but now in the way. It was strimmed last week - should I cut it again just before I dig it up or would that not be a good idea?

I know once its lifted to keep it watered until its established - fortunately the weather while not too cold (10'C last night) will ensure it doesn't dry out (ever at this rate). What else should I be doing? Should I avoid mowing it for a few weeks (can I lightly strim it if needed not putting any weight on it to compact the roots).

Is there any feed or such like that you'd recommend I give it to help it along or would I be best to just stick to water until it gets going?

As you are really turfing the area I thought this might be useful. http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=410
I know it says avoid doing this in summer but it'll probably be wet and you can always water it if it turns out to be hot and sunny (please).
Steve 309

29 May 2014 13:03

If it's wild grass you're putting in (i.e. stuff you haven't grown from seed or bought as turf) be careful that you don't have something horrible like couch or Yorkshire Fog in it. But other than that, if you loosen the soil it's going into, and take a reasonable slice of soil from under it it should be OK. If it carries on raining at least it won't need watering!

To be honest purely because I've got to dig one area up to level the land for the chickens and it seemed silly not to "quick fix" the lawn Verdun since the grass would just be stacked and left to rot down.

Steve - the grass is less than 10 foot from where I'm transplanting. In this case I don't think I need to worry about weeds- if we have it we have it!

Mike its three - four foot higher than the rest of the garden (they just heaped the excess soil when they did the patio up into a mound and never got round to sorting it until it grew over) and means the hedge is very low in the chicken area which is not ideal as I want the hedge as a good wind break to keep exposure from the playing field behind us and to protect the coop from prying eyes and their footballs. It's my intention to bring it back down to the rest of the garden (I'm not going for bowling green tidy here) and use the soil on the vegetable garden.

Hopefully this'll give the chickens plenty of space and protection and stop them getting nosy watching the kiddies playing football!